In The Dark
by helterskelter3310
Summary: Ben convinces Jack, Juliet, Kate and several others to form a team of assassins in order to keep people safe from the monsters that stalk the streets at night. Little does this team know they are just pawns in a twisted game an Ben's determined to win, no matter how many pieces he sacrifices in the process.
1. Never Walk Alone

The dark city streets were still drenched from a recent rain. The excess water reflecting the streetlights back up and the occasional piece of trash floated along as water ran towards the drainage grates. It was a cold night, cold and wet and altogether miserable in the opinions of most citizens.

A young man quickly walked down the normally well lit sidewalk. The darkness seemed heavier than normal. It seemed so thick it was actually blocking out the streetlights that normal bathed the sidewalk in quite a bit of light. It felt there was something in that darkness that was watching him. Waiting for him. He quickly checked behind him. He was alone, as far as he could see.

He pulled on the edges of his jacket nervously. His feet moved a little faster than before. His heart raced. He knew it was silly, he was a grown man and shouldn't be afraid of the dark. Just as he was scolding himself for the silly fear the streetlight nearest him burst in a quick flash of light and a shower of glass. In that brief instant of light he saw quite clearly a woman standing in front of him. Her blonde hair seemed to glow in the light and then was gone as quickly as she'd appeared.

He blinked as his eyes readjusted to the darkness. He did another quick check behind him and when he brought his head back around a man was standing there. He was dressed in all black. He smiled in an unfriendly way.

"Hello." With that he lunged at the younger man.

"Keamy! I called dibs!" Ana Lucia appeared from the shadows of the nearest alley. Keamy withdrew his blood covered mouth from the neck of the dying man. He licked his lips before responding.

"Go fuck yourself"

"Prick." With that Ana Lucia vanished, off to find someone else dumb enough to be out so late, or rather early. Keamy smiled unpleasantly, he could feel the man's heart start to beat slower and slower. He moved his mouth away, fangs shiny with blood and saliva. He wiped his mouth with the sleeve of the man's coat and then snapped his neck for good measure.

"There was another one." Kate said solemnly to Jack and Sawyer. The two men were sitting at a small kitchen table with papers and folders piled high. Juliet was sitting on a nearby counter with a coffee mug in her hands at Kate's outburst she snatched a cell phone from next to her. Kate tossed the morning paper onto the table, scattering a few other papers to the floor. Sawyer snagged it before Jack could.

"Son of a bitch." Kate and Jack hovered above him reading the paper over his shoulders. A quick tapping was going on behind them as Juliet sent out a mass text.

"What is that now, six?" Jack asked.

"Seven." Sawyer scowled at the paper. There was a big front page article complete with a picture of the victim, he was a local college student.

"Shit." Kate said, shaking her head.

"I texted the others." Juliet's statement went ignored as she hopped off the counted and stood by Kate.

Jack ran his hands over his short hair in frustration. Sawyer flung the newspaper back onto the messy table. The picture of the young man, who had almost completed his graduates degree smiled up at them from the paper.

"So much for minding our own business." Sawyer said sourly. Juliet placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a small, comforting squeeze. The front door flung open, banging against the wall. The foursome turned towards the living room and the source of the noise. Sayid had stormed into the house.

"I told you this would happen!" He pointed a finger at Jack.

"I know, Sayid. I made a mistake."

"A mistake? You said we should hold back and another man is dead now." Sayid spat.

"Sayid," Kate gently grabbed his arm. Sayid shook it off, his glare lessening a little. He knew it did no good to fight.

Sayid's put a lid on his anger, for now. He apologized to Jack but both men knew that Sayid still blamed him for this death. Just like he blamed Jack for his brother-in-law's death. He sulked over to the couch and flopped down on it.

"At least they're not turning anyone." Juliet said softly, trying to put a little positivity into the situation. Sayid nodded in agreement, Kate was still watching him out of the corner of her eye.

"Well, ain't that considerate." Sawyer said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Juliet let go of his shoulder. Kate lightly smacked the back of his head.

"We need to get everybody here, today, and come up with a plan." Jack seemed lost in thought. Clearly he was already working on said plan.

"I already texted everybody." Juliet said. Jack nodded.

"Well start calling people, we need them here as soon as possible"

The familiar buzzing of a cell phone woke Charlotte much earlier than she would've liked. It only buzzed once so she decided to ignore it and instead snuggled deeper into Daniel's warm embrace. His arms tightened around her slightly.

She had just fallen back asleep when a new noise woke her. This time it was the blaring of the Doctor Who theme coming from Daniel's cell phone. She groaned. She propped herself up on her elbows and reached over Daniel to get to his phone but her arms weren't quite long enough. So she pushed him onto his back so she could lean over his chest and snag the phone.

"This better be important."

"Sorry, Charlotte I- wait it's one in the afternoon, are you still in bed?" Juliet's curious voice crackled through the small speaker. He really needed a new phone.

"Yeah." Charlotte answer as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. "We were up late last night."

"Doing what?"

"Do you _really_ want to know?" Charlotte smirked as she heard a snort on the other end of the line. Daniel started gently playing with Charlotte's hair.

"No thanks." Juliet said with a laugh. "I only called because Jack is calling a meeting-"

"When?" Charlotte interrupted with curiosity as she laid her head on Daniel's chest.

"Now."

"Bloody Hell. Now?"

"Or as soon as you can get here." Charlotte groaned.

"Didn't you get my text?"

"I ignored it." Charlotte said flatly. This time it was Juliet that groaned.

"Of course you did. Well the sooner you guys get here the better. See you then." Juliet hung up before Charlotte could say anything else.

"What time do you think you'll be back?" Penny asked. Desmond was rummaging around in a dresser drawer, digging all the way to the bottom. She knew exactly what he was looking for and it made her nervous.

"Dunno. It probably has to do with today's paper. Did ya see it?" He said distractedly as he pulled out a knife the length of his forearm.

"Do you really need that Des?" He turned to look at her with sad eyes as he strapped the sheath to his arm and carefully tucked the knife inside. The silver blade glinting ominously in the artificial lighting.

"Can't be too careful Pen." He bent down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. He pulled on a light jacket to cover the knife.

"I hate that you do this." She said softly.

"I know. But if I can keep people, including you and Charlie, safe then I will do anything I can." She turned away from him to try to hide the tears welling up in her eyes. Desmond gently shut the door behind him as he left the room.

Charlie was sound asleep on the couch with his arms wrapped around a stuffed bear. Desmond kneeled down in front of him to gently push his hair back. He kissed the top of his son's head before leaving out the front door.

Miles threw his black gym back into the trunk of his car as a police car cruised by. Miles held his breath while the cop passed even nodding at him. As soon as he was gone Miles quickly scrambled into his vehicle. The rundown car's interior was filthy. It wasn't exactly his pride and joy but it ran, barely, but it still ran so he kept it. The back floorboard was covered with trash, fast food bags and half empty pop bottles but the trunk was what he was most concerned with. He had just stashed a gym bag full of weapons, some of which weren't the most legal.

As he turned his head to pull out of his cramped side street parking spot he noticed something in his backseat.

"No way." He breathed, barely able to believe it. It was a flamethrower. He snatched the note that was scotch taped to the top of it.

_Miles -_

_Don't hurt yourself._

_-Hurley_

"He really did it." Miles could barely hold back his excitement as he put a hand on his new weapon. Hurley had been telling him for ages he had found a new toy for Miles to try out but Miles thought he'd never go through with. Just like the time he told him he had a modified chainsaw that could hack through vampires. That turned out to be a huge lie but this was the real deal. He couldn't wait to test it out. With a final fist pump of excitement he drove off to Jack and Kate's apartment for their meeting.


	2. Change Your Mind

Later that afternoon Jack was standing before his team. Kate was leaning against the doorway to the kitchen with Juliet standing slightly behind her. Sawyer had pulled a kitchen chair into the living room and was leaning back on two legs. Sayid was still on the couch and Miles was slouched into the cushions an arm's length away him. Desmond was sitting on the wide window sill that was slightly behind the armchair where Daniel sat with Charlotte perched on the arm.

There was an uncomfortable tension in the room. Or at least it was uncomfortable for Jack since most of it was directed at him. There was quite the range of emotions coming from his team. Anger, frustration, indifference if that even counts, and a little too much excitement most coming from Miles.

"I'm sure you've all seen today's newspaper." Jack started. "It's clear that I made the wrong call. So I brought you all here is I want to change my orders."

Miles looked up hopefully. Sayid sat up a little straighter. Desmond kept staring outside but he turned his head ever so slightly towards Jack.

"I know I said we shouldn't get involved. I was concerned that someone might get hurt, or worse but I've changed my mind. I think the city needs us. The police have no idea what they're dealing with and clearly the killings aren't going to stop." Kate nodded in agreement which Jack took as encouragement.

"So, we're going to do what we do best." He stopped for dramatic pause and couldn't help the small smile that formed on his lips. "Hunt those fucking bloodsuckers down." Miles cheered. Sayid smiled just a little while Juliet looked a little apprehensive.

"Hurley's already working on some new equipment." Miles offered right away.

"Did he get the flamethrower you wanted?" Daniel whispered, genuinely interested.

"Sure did." Miles answer quietly and smirked.

"That's great," Jack said, not hearing the part about the flamethrower. "So we need to check out the scenes, see what we can find first. Maybe figure out who we're dealing with, and how old they are."

"Kate, you, Juliet and Desmond take the the site for the 5th murder. The one by the library. Charlotte, Daniel and Miles, you guys go the 6th site. I think it was by the bridge in the city park. Sawyer, Sayid and I will go to the latest one."

3 years earlier

"Dr. Shephard, nice to meet you." A middle aged man with short brown hair, intense blue eyes and very round glasses shook Jack's hand.

"My name is Benjamin Linus." He motioned for Jack to take a seat in a plush office chair sitting across from a large mahogany desk.

"Do you know why I've asked for this meeting?" Ben sat down behind the desk and put his fingertips together.

"No, uh not really." Jack said with a small uneasy laugh as he straightened his tie.

"Well, my associates and I have been watching you very closely for quite some time now." Ben paused, "I find myself in needs of your rather specialized services."

"If you need a surgery that can be scheduled through the hospital." Jack said looking confused. Ben gave him a condescending smile.

"Not those services, Jack. I'm talking about that specialized skill set you hone in your free time." Jack started to know where he was going with this and suddenly became very nervous.

"You know, that hobby of yours that normally involves lurking in the dark alleys in the dead of night and driving a stake through a heart of another person and dismembering the body." Ben said it plainly as if he were talking about the weather.

"I can explain-"

"There's no need. I know all about those retched creatures you hunt. In fact that's why I called you here. I need your help tracking one down and killing it." Jack's interest suddenly rose.

"He's a very old one, very powerful and very resourceful. I've been trying to get at him most of my adult life. Unfortunately I'm not exactly a skilled huntsman so I've had to hire help. Most of them made the mistake of taking him on one-on-one. All who tried that died so I've put together a team in hopes that they could use each other as an advantage. God knows he's got all kinds of minions at his disposal the more people on our side the better."

"And you want me to be on this team." Jack stated rather than asked. He couldn't believe this. He wanted to do it, he really did but this had to be some sort of joke. No vampire hunters worked in teams. He'd only ever even a met a few in his life and they were very much the lone wolf type.

"No." Jack's eyes widened. "I want you to lead it. I've got many, many good hunters in this team but none of them can or want to step up and lead it."

"Why don't you lead it? It's your team."

"Because I'm not the action hero, Jack." Ben said irritably. "I can't do what you can do. I lead from here, from a desk but I need someone to be on the field that can take charge when needed."

"Of course you'll get paid a hefty salary since it would be risking your life in more ways than you've ever dreamed."

Jack sat quietly for a minute thinking. He wanted so badly to just tell this Ben guy that he would accept it. But he had to weigh his options...or not.

"I'll do it." He said nodding. Ben gently clapped his hands together before dashing over to a filing cabinet. He pulled out a thick stack of off-white folders.

"I'll just hand these over to you," He held the folders out to Jack. "The top one is for a Juliet Burke, she's an old friend of mine. If you have any questions you can go to her, her address is in there."

With that Ben waved a hand and the man who had guarded the door on the way in led a slightly confused Jack back out of the office.


	3. Under The Bridge

"There's nothing here." Desmond said with a huff as he sat down on the steps of the public library. He took off his sunglasses so he could wipe his brow. Kate and Juliet were coming to the same conclusion.

"Jack said we should look and we looked." Juliet said as she sat down next to him. The sun was glaring down on them and all three were already sweating. Juliet ran a hand through her long blonde hair, regretting that she didn't tie it back earlier. Kate put her hands on her hips as she watched a few people walk by. She was determined to find something.

"Not a lot of people come by here. At night there'd be even fewer." Kate said as she looked at the buildings nearby. Juliet nodded with her eyes closed.

"It's isolated, for being in the city. All these other buildings look empty." Kate pointed to the buildings on either side of the library and then looked across the street. Desmond looked around.

"Good vantage points from the roofs." Desmond added to Kate's train of thought.

"Easy place to kill someone." Juliet concluded but then a thought hit her. "We might be dealing with a newborn." Kate's head snapped in the blonde's direction.

"What'd you mean?"

"I mean, since when do vampires hunt for easy pickings. Most of the old ones will lure people to them, not seek out someone who's alone."

"Or they'll stalk them." Desmond pointed out. Juliet nodded in agreement.

"They can't be too new though," Kate said. "The kills are too clean, plus they haven't turned anyone yet so they have to have the willpower to stop before they drain the victim."

"A young one shouldn't be too hard to stop then." Desmond said hopefully, looking from Kate to Juliet.

"If there's only one. They're strong but they're reckless and vicious. If there's a lot of them…" Kate trailed off.

"I hate the sun."

"Be careful Miles with that attitude people might think you're a vampire." Daniel teased. Miles slid a few feet ungracefully down the hill.

"Fucking hilarious Faraday." He muttered as Daniel carefully stepped down the steep grassy slope by bridge. Charlotte was already at the bottom standing next to the small creek. The water was only an inch or two deep but the city still called it a creek.

Charlotte ventured under the bridge itself. The underside of the small bridge was a cement arch covered in graffiti. She ran her hand across the cement but stopped suddenly.

"Oh look Miles, someone called Naomi loves you." She laughed as she pointed to a spot on the wall where someone had painted in the black "Naomi + Miles forever" with a red heart outlined.

"Again with the jokes." He said sourly. Daniel pulled out a photo from his backpack and held it out. It was a picture of the crime scene when the victim had been found. He lined it up with his vantage point, and then pointed to a spot on the other side of the small creek.

"Over there." Miles hopped across the water and slowly walked over to the spot where the victim had been found. He held his arms out away from his sides slightly and closed his eyes. His head twitched to one side a few times. Charlotte moved closer to Daniel so they could watch Miles.

"It looks like he's having a seizure, doesn't it?" Charlotte whispered to Daniel with the special smile she reserved only for him. He loved that he was the only one she'd ever do that for. It warmed his heart.

"I thought it looked more like he was sniffing the air." Charlotte snorted.

"Hey lovebirds, you're breaking my concentration."

"Then don't talk." Charlotte snapped. Daniel started kicking at some of the small rocks when something caught his eye. A small piece of paper was buried under a few rocks. He bent down and picked it up to examine it. It was half of a business card. Charlotte gently nudged him with her knee.

"I know this." He turned it over in his hand. The water had smudged most of the letters together but he still recognized the logo. The only problem was he couldn't remember where he remembered it from. He sighed and pressed his palm over his eyes.

"I don't know why," he turned to face Charlotte. "But I know this."

"Daniel." She said gently as she crouched down so she could be eye level with him. She gently put her hand on his shoulder. "It could just be trash."

"It doesn't seem like it though."

"I got nothing guys." Miles interrupted. He jumped back over to their side of the creek. "They tore her up to bad. All I could get was it was violent and she was terrified. Didn't see a face."

"Damn." Charlotte said as she stood back up. Daniel quickly pocketed the half a card.

Sayid was sitting at the kitchen table in his cramped apartment. He was absentmindedly spinning the lid to his beer around in tight circles. His other hand was tangled up in his hair. Shannon silently came up behind him and gently ran her hand across his shoulders. He didn't look up as she sat down next to him. She didn't say anything, she just sat there waiting for him to start.

"Jack changed his mind." Sayid said as gently as possible. Sayid glanced up at her. She was sitting very still, a stillness that Sayid associated with bad things. It was one of her warning signs.

"He did?" She said through gritted teeth. Sayid adjusted his position so his side wasn't so vulnerable. Shannon was staring hard at the table to her right.

"Unfortunately."

"Unfortunately." She mocked. "Unfortunately?!" She shot up out of her chair and grabbed it by the back and flung it to the floor.

"Who's gonna die this time, huh?! Who's gonna die so Jack can prove a point?!" She yelled as she kicked the same chair she'd thrown down earlier. She grabbed Sayid's half empty bottle and threw it with all her might into the wall. Sayid closed his eyes.

"So he can prove he's the damn alpha male!" Sayid heard something else break, whether it was thrown or snapped by her bare hands he didn't know. Then he heard something different, followed by a stifled noise of pain. Sayid's eyes snapped open. Shannon was kneeling on the living room floor with her head pressed to the floor. She held her hand in close and Sayid saw little drops of blood near by.

He rushed over to her and kneeled next her. She was sobbing so hard her body was shaking. Sayid pulled her against him. He glanced at her hand. It was cut up pretty bad but he knew she wouldn't let him do anything about it until she got this out of her system. It wasn't exactly the first time this had happened. She had plenty of anger induced, self-inflicted scars.

Sayid silently cursed Jack but his own anger at the man had mostly vanished. If Jack hadn't given Boone that assignment he might still be alive and Shannon wouldn't be such a loose cannon. She wouldn't be so miserable. He pressed his lips to the top of her head and just held her close as she cried. It was the most he could do for her right now.


	4. Just A Game

Ben Linus sat patiently at a park bench midnight. His short brown hair ruffled slightly in the breeze that flowed through the empty park. A swing creaked as it moved gently. He sat as still as he could, listening as hard as he could. He even closed his eyes. Then he felt it, a disturbance. It was more of a feeling than a sound.

"Hello, Charles." He called out without looking behind him. Sure enough, Charles Widmore stepped around from behind the bench and sat down at the other end. Ben opened his eyes as the other man sat down. Widmore moved with an air of authority that Ben tried his hardest to accomplish but somehow never managed.

"Hello, Benjamin." Ben didn't turn to look at Widmore. He just stared straight ahead as he spoke.

"What do you want?"

"I haven't seen your pawns in a while." He said with a hint of curiosity.

"They took a break. Your last move hit them harder than I anticipated." Widmore scoffed. Ben didn't let it affect him. He showed no sign of emotion.

"Hmm. I thought you were going to say you had forfeited the round." Ben scowled. He turned to look at his adversary.

"Never. The game is still on. Your little trick of offing a few citizens worked, Jack informed me this afternoon that they are back to work."

"Good. Maybe this time they'll give me more of a challenge. Your last team hardly put up a fight. I was greatly disappointed in you Benjamin." Ben didn't answer right away. Widmore stood up.

"This time will be different."

"You always say that." Widmore said and with that he vanished into the night. Ben took a deep, calming breath. He couldn't lose to that man again. It was humiliating. That was why he'd spent much more time researching and recruiting his players. He was certain that this time he had the better team. He knew his team would win the game for him this time.


End file.
